Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Light
by GoldenRaptor
Summary: A boy mysteriously becomes a growlithe, and is left without explanation as to who he is, or where he came from. Now, along with a new-found friend, he must travel far and wide across a land where light is slowly fading, to find out the truth.


Hello :D

I'm finally working on another PMD based fic, overall inspired by the events of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky. This fic is in no way connected to the actual Mystery Dungeon Light for the Wii… I just really liked the name. [killed]

Constructive Criticism is much appreciated, whilst flames are not. Please enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokemon franchise, I do, however, own. :D (killed)

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**Chapter One: Welcome to Our World**

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"Hurry! The light is fading quickly!" Someone exclaimed from deep within the shadows. The sound of sneakers pounding on pavement was in harmony with the rain beating on the soil and the sound of someone panting heavily. A small speck of light in the distance seemed to be disappearing on the barley visible horizon. A blood curdling shriek echoed through the shadows as a dark figure dove through the air. A painful screamed followed close behind.

"Are you okay!? Where are you?" No one answered. The owner of the voice became more frantic.

"Can you hear me!?" They bellowed in a panic. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightening. A large, menacing figure could be made out for a split second before the rest of the light was sucked away. The remaining creature screamed a brief "No!" before fading into the shadows. Then, all that was left was darkness and the roar of the rain.

-oOo-

A lone creature cautiously plodded down an empty, shadowed path. His unique anatomy allowed him to brighten up the shadows through a tiny orange bulb at the tip of his tail, however his organic lighting system was; like himself, still in its adolescence and did not provide as much light as he would have liked. His mother's tail lantern in comparison was completely remarkable. It was as if the intensity of the sun had been balled up and placed upon the tip of her black and yellow tail. The type of scintillating brightness that volbeat only dreamt of. The tiny lamb like creature could only wished for the power to brightening up dark caves and night strolls the way his mother could. However, despite the lack of proper lighting, the yellow creature tramped on, choosing to ignore the darkness just out of his organic flashlight's reach. He did not need much visual guidance, as he had ventured down this path so many times in the past that he had nearly memorized every bump and curve by heart. When to jump, duck, dodge and pick up the legs were just a few things he had memorized in his years traveling this path. Even various sounds became familiar at this point, and it was easy to spot a noise that sounded foreign or dangerous. It was only natural for the creature to become cautious when something did not seem completely out of the norm…

That's when he heard it. A soft, slightly fatigued groan made its way into the wholly creatures ears, startling him instantaneously. He nearly tripped over as he bounced back, away from the potentially threatening sound. His body began producing electricity in a defensive display, warning the other creature that he was willing to fight. When nothing came, he let down his guard. His breath was nearly hitched in his throat as he struggled to speak.

"H-hello?" he began as he up straight again. There was no answer.

"Is anyone in there?" he repeated, this time with a bit more confidence. Bravery was a virtue when exploring something new and terrifying in this way. He placed a hoof forward as he slowly began to make his way towards the bush.

"I swear… if this is a trap…" he muttered quietly. He knew if it was a trap, there was not much he would be able to do to defend himself. He was young and inexperienced in the world of battle. It was possible that a weak spark display would startle the opponent and give him enough time to flee, but if it was something of the ground type he would have found himself in even more trouble.

"_Ground types don't hide in bushes… they hide in caves… come on; it's probably just a pidgey_," he reassured himself as he inhaled deeply. With a small leap, the pokemon burst through the thick brush. His dark eyes searched frantically as if he expected to be hit with an attack, but he found something quite unexpected. Before him, the body of another pokemon lay sprawled upon the soil. The electric type could see that this creature was mammalian, like himself, and sported black striped and a thick tail of white fur. His ears stood upright, and his appeared to be a quadruped. It was obviously canine, but a gender was not yet evident. He did not move, or appear to breath, causing the electric type great concern. His eyes went wide and adrenaline pumped wildly through his system as he realized that he was in a potential emergency situation.

"H-hey! Hey, are you okay!?" the electric pokemon exclaimed dashing to the side of the other pokemon. The creature did not stir, which sent the electric type into a frenzy.

"Hey! Oh man… this is bad!" the little mareep yelped frantically waving his tail about. The flashing light and ruckus must have been enough, for the other creature stirred. The orange, striped creatures slowly opened fiery crimson eyes in a daze. Seeing that the fellow pokemon was in fact alive, the mareep smiled and let out a soft sigh of relief.

"Oh wow! I thought I was going to have to use my armature emergency training for a second, I was so nervous! I'm so glad you're alright!" he laughed aloud, earning a befuddled stare from the puppy pokemon before him. The orange and black creature looked slightly dazed, almost as if he could not believe what stood in front of him. He did not say a word and merely stared. The electric type, feeling a sudden wave of self conscious, blushed and stared back.

"Um… what?" he questioned looking himself over. Was his wool dirty? Had he forgotten to groom properly? The mareep looked up at the other pokemon with an expression that screamed "What gives?" After a few more seconds of resolute gawking, the fire type spoke.

"You're a… pokemon!" the fire type yelped, appearing as if he was on the verge of a heart attack. The expression on his face was a mixture of disbelief and awe as he drew closer to the electric type.

"Um… I know that?" the mareep responded feeling completely confused at that point. He began to ponder if this pokemon had been stricken by a rock suffered some sort of dramatic head trauma.

"B-but pokemon don't talk!" the canine creature barked. The mareep was a bit taken back by the last comment, and took a minute to question the other pokemon's logic before responding.

"What! What do you mean we don't talk? You're talking at this very moment!" the electric type exclaimed, now completely concerned.

"So? I'm a human! And you're a mareep… you're talking to me! Why are you speaking in human tongue?"

"Human? Are you trying to pull the wool over my eyes? You look like any other growlithe to me…" the sheep said whilst furrowing his brow.

"Boy… you're a little out there…" he added in a whisper. Picking up on the last sentence the growlithe glared at the glowing pokemon.

"I am _not_ crazy!" The mareep tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Maybe you should lie back down? It seems like you have some kind of… extreme amnesia or head trauma, or something…" the electric type muttered to a now frantic growlithe. The creature was spinning around in a circle, as if to chase his own tail. It was evident that he was no longer listening. His eyes were wide as he wagged the bushy tail ad nearly toppled over trying to get a closer look at it. He then gasped shaking one of his hind legs, as if he was unfamiliar with the concept of walking crouched close to the ground in this way. The mareep stared in bewilderment as the growlithe continued to inspect his body in horror.

"What _are_ you doing!?" he more barked then asked. The growlithe sat down on the soil, taking a minute to take in everything. He had been a human before, he was _positive _that he had.

"I can't believe it! I was a human, I swear I was! H-how did… I'm… I really _am_ a growlithe…" the fire type muttered into the shadows with obvious disappointment tinged in his voice. The glowing pokemon stood, bewildered at this point.

"Well, duh! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" he exclaimed in frustration, but hearing the worry in the fire pokemon's voice, he let out a sympathetic sigh.

"Well… if you really say you're a human," he began. "How did you get here?"

The fire type pondered this. He in fact did not remember how he ended up in the position. In fact, he remembered very little about anything, other than being a human.

"Don't remember, huh? Well, maybe if you start with your name…" he gently suggested. The growlithe blinked.

"_My name?"_ he questioned himself. He began to think. Names were buzzing about his mind, but none of them rung a bell. However, with some hard thought, the fire type managed to pull a familiar name out of his seemingly empty memory.

"Oh, yeah! My name… I'm Conan." The growlithe said, nodding gently to himself. He was positive that this was his name now. The fire type looked up, nearly missing the faintest of smiles on the lambs face. It slowly returned, this time a in a grin. A small snicker made its way into the fire type's ears, before the electric pokemon began a full on laughing fit. The fire type blinked and furrowed his brow self-consciously.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry! But, 'Conan'? It's such a strange name!" Conan glared with a thick blush showing through his orange pelt.

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with my name!" Conan growled. "And if my name is so hilarious then I'd like to hear yours!" he snorted. The mareep sighed as his laughter slowly subsided.

"My name is Light," he said with a simple breath. Conan scoffed.

"Well, your name isn't so awesome, either!" he huffed trying to cross his front legs the way a human would cross their arms in distaste. However, finding it was impossible to do with his new limbs, he sighed in defeat.

"Well then, Light," Conan muttered. "What do you suppose I do? I'm not a pokemon, but I'm trapped in this body that doesn't belong to me. How am I supposed to get back home?" The electric type pondered the matter. He had never heard of a human becoming a pokemon before, and now the question was beginning to irk him. Why would a human become a pokemon?

"You don't know either, huh?" Conan sighed softly. Light sighed as well and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't. This is… well, pretty weird. It doesn't make any sense to me," he muttered trying to comprehend the entire situation. The two sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, before a distant shriek interrupted the tranquility of the forest.

"Hey! That doesn't belong to you!" the voice screamed from outside of the thicket causing both Light and Conan jump. The sounds of a brief struggle were followed closely by the beating of powerful wings. Silence followed, and continued for a few minutes before Conan finally spoke.

"What was that all about?" he asked more to himself than anyone else, but Light promptly answered.

"I'm not sure… but it doesn't sound too good… we should go see maybe," he muttered trotting quickly out into the open. Conan frowned not wanting to venture out into the unknown this way, but at the same time he wished not to be left alone in this strange land. The fire pokemon sighed and decided the decision to follow was the better of the two, and quickly dashed after the mareep.

-oOo-

"Light, hey, slow down! You're going to fast!" Conan panted trying his best to keep up with the mareep in front of him. The path was rather dark, making it difficult to see obstacles on the ground in front of him, and the smells and sounds that his new body was picking up on were rather distracting. The only guidance came from Light's tail, and the little orange bulb wasn't exactly a supernovae flash, and though he could hear the lambs footsteps, he couldn't always pin point exactly where it was coming from.

Conan sighed as he saw Light slowly come to a halt just ahead of him. He could hear the lamb panting heavily after running so profusely over a path of obstacles. The lamb struggled to speak.

"Hey," he panted. "H-hey. Conan! Someone's been hurt!" he managed to blurt in a single breath. Conan dashed ahead, feeling the strength and energy to run again. He hoped that this creature was alright, but at the same time he hoped that the injury of this pokemon could be some kind of clue to his own transformation. Possibly another human in the same boat as he was in: somehow mysteriously waking up as a pokemon. He knew in his hearth that this was a selfish thought, but at this point he was more scared than anything else.

Conan darted ahead to meet Light and the injured pokemon, which was not one currently known to him. It sported a flame like a charmander, but it looked more like a monkey. He suspected that it was a pokemon found in a far off region; one that he had never been to. The creature slowly began to stand up, rubbing its head tenderly.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright…" it muttered in a clearly feminine voice. She was obviously answering a previous question asked by Light, just minutes ago.

"It's okay now, Flame, you can come out now…" she muttered signaling to a nearby bush. Sure enough, it began to rustle. From within the brush a small pokemon crawled out. Its eyes were cautious and shy, and body language was clearly uncomfortable. The monferno reached out and comforting hand to pull the smaller one near.

"Don't be afraid, these are friends," she whispered in a soothing voice. The smaller flame monkey seemed to relax a little, and turned to face the kind strangers before him.

"H-hello…" he muttered shyly. Light smiled.

"Well, hi little guy! I'm glad you're both ok, but, what happened?" he questioned causing the chimchar and monferno to exchange worried glances. The older of the twosome spoke up.

"Well… we were robbed," she said followed by an exasperated sigh. Conan and Light gasped simultaneously. The fire type nodded gently.

"Yes, my little brother Flame likes to play here with his friend, Chestnut on a daily basis… but sometimes a group of pokemon come through here and bully other pokemon for their things… I was appalled when he told me about it, so I came to try and reason with them but…" she paused. "They weren't at all too friendly… I was knocked out quickly… I never was good against the flying types… and then, well, Chestnut tried her best to do something about it, but the thief's took off. At the very last moment, she grabbed onto the staraptor's leg, and now, I just don't know where she could have ended up… I'm very worried…" she muttered letting her voice trail off. Light sighed, looking away.

"Its Raptor and his gang of flying types, it just has to be," he muttered earning puzzled stares from the others around him.

"Raptor?" Conan repeated, earning a gentle nod.

"Yeah, Raptor the staraptor is an outlaw who uses his speed and power to pluck edible items right from under other pokemon. Or if he's in a bad mood he'll just completely body you and nab everything you have. He and his group go far and wide looking for helpless pokemon to plunder, and as a flying type, he's very elusive…" he concluded, feeling his heart go out to the terrified young pokemon. Raptor was notorious for being a bit of a brute, and a powerful one at that. If he could take out a monferno, he only imagined what he could do to a very small pokemon.

"Well, what about Chestnut? If he can go so far, then what will happen to her!?" the little chimchar exclaimed, obviously distressed. Conan exchanged a brief glance with Light, before looking back towards the chimchar. Somehow he knew what Light was thinking; that _something_ had to be done. It hurt somewhere deep within his heart to think of anyone hurting a pokemon, especially a young one, but what could he do?

"We'll go and get your friend," Light announced earning shocked glances from everyone around him. Conan essential wondered what "we" he was referring to, but considering he was the only able bodied pokemon in the immediate area, he knew it was him. The growlithe felt conflicted; the moral half of his brain screamed that this was the right thing to do, while his selfish, logical side stated it was unsafe, and finding some kind of clue as to why he was a growlithe was his main focus.

"Y-you'd really do that!?" The monferno and chimchar asked simultaneously, earning an unsure nod from Light.

"Yes, we aren't exactly experts on rescues but… we just have to do something, right Conan?" Conan was still unsure, but what else could he say in a time like this? The puppy pokemon nodded gently, earning a smile from both fire types.

"This is very brave of you! Oh, be safe, and good luck!"

"It's nothing, and thanks! We won't give up until these villains are taken down! Let's go, Conan," Light laughed, putting on a false display of confidence. In truth, he was sick to his stomach, and he had a horrible sinking feeling that he could not do this. However, he needed to start somewhere if he ever wished to be a great explorer, like so many had already done. Light hurried off into the night, leaving the two fire types behind. Conan followed closely behind, unsure if he was angry with Light, or impressed. However, despite his heroic actions, his fear of being dragged into this translated into one basic emotion: anger, he did not want to put himself in harm's way like this.

"What the hell was that, Light!" he barked earning a puzzled stare from Light. The mareep stopped walking, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"What was what?"

"You're dragging me into this mess! Why did you do it?"

"Why did I did I do it?" the thunder lamb tilted his head, "Well, it's the right thing to do… how could we not?"

"Easy, we don't volunteer," the puppy muttered, looking away into the darkness. The lamb scowled in disgust. How could the growlithe say such a thing?

"Not volunteer? Look, I know you're scared to do this, but at the same time, I know this is eating you up inside, I could see it in your eyes! Wouldn't you want someone to come and rescue you, if you where in a sticky situation? Wouldn't you?" The lamb growled, causing Conan to feel a little ashamed of himself. He knew how he would have felt if he was in such a situation and no one rescued him out of fear.

"Okay… okay, maybe I overacted, I'm just…"

"Scared and confused," Light muttered, hitting the nail directly on the head. Conan nodded gently, his fear had gotten the best of him.

"I'm really sorry, Light… I'm not usually like this,"

"I can tell,"

"You don't see me in a negative light now, do you?" the mareep shook his head.

"No, it's not your fault. You're just afraid, and confused like I said. Plus, you being human… you aren't used to things happening this way," he said turning his nose to the sky. He seemed to be in deep thought, before turning to the fire type with a smile.

"But considering you're part of our world now, you should know that as pokemon we have the natural urge to help each other… humans have it too, but in pokemon, it's a bit stronger. It won't take you long to understand, promise," he chuckled. The electric lamb turned and jerked his head to the east.

"Well, are you coming? I have a pretty good inkling as to where to find Raptor," Conan nodded and began to follow. He felt more comfortable with his current situation suddenly, as if it was no big deal.

"So where are we headed?" he asked with a curious smile. The lamb looked up at the tiny slither of moon above.

"Well, it's a place by the name of the Blustery Caverns,"

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**End Chapter One**

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I'd love to hear what you think so far. :3 Also, I'd love to hear opinions one capitalizing pokemon's names versus lower case.... I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do, so I tried


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